This invention relates to processing, coding, and/or interpretation of manually initiated commands, and more particularly to a multi-keyed input/output device.
The function to be performed is to provide a category-, function-, or purpose-oriented keyboard system that serves as the man-machine interface to a complex data information-handling system. Further, it is to provide a selectable input/output organization peculiar to the category, function, purpose, etc.
The prior art consists of very limited display repertoires associated with the keyboard selectors. The system of selector configurations is also very limited. E.g., typical keyboards, for computers, and the like, consist of alphanumeric character selectors that can be depressed (or otherwise actuated). These keyboards provide full capability but it requires a number of selections before anything meaningful or readable has been selected.
A second major limitation is that the numbers of distinct selections is limited to the total number of selectors in the keyboard matrix. E.g., most keyboards include the alphabetical selectors A through Z (26 selectors), the numeric selectors 0 through 9 (10 selectors), and a few special selectors (varying from 4 to 8 usually).
This invention provides the uniqueness of multiple display messages for each keyboard selector/readout, thereby providing N times the total number of actual selectors/readouts as the total number of functional selectors/readouts; where N is the number of readout messages available for a given selector/readout.
Another feature is that this invention provides a mass readout selection capability for all (or part) of the selector/readouts based on some other singular selection. That is, a staging button can be selected, thereby setting up each selector/readout in the keyboard for a function related to the staging button.
Still another feature is that this invention reduces the error normally associated with the readout and selection of functions not directly associated with a task. The reduction of error is attributed to three things: (1) built-in logic to inhibit or prohibit actuations not associated with preselected requirements; (2) provision of readout messages not requiring interpretation to understand their functional relationship to the task at hand; and (3) sequential illumination feature provides the means whereby the initial staging of the keyboard illuminates/activates a small group of selectors/readouts and subsequent selection of one of them, then illuminates/activates a second group, and so on, until all selections in a sequence have been completed.)